Provide your feedback on proposed laws governing the sharing of data between South Australian Government agencies and other jurisdictions.
What is being decided?
In August this year, the Government introduced into Parliament the Public Sector (Data Sharing) Bill 2016 (PDF, 275KB), which aims to set out clear principles regarding the sharing of Government Data between different agencies. The Bill sets out clear Trusted Access Principles that govern the provision of information – including whether there is an overriding public interest in sharing the data – to ensure agenciesContinue reading
Provide your feedback on proposed laws governing the sharing of data between South Australian Government agencies and other jurisdictions.
What is being decided?
In August this year, the Government introduced into Parliament the Public Sector (Data Sharing) Bill 2016 (PDF, 275KB), which aims to set out clear principles regarding the sharing of Government Data between different agencies. The Bill sets out clear Trusted Access Principles that govern the provision of information – including whether there is an overriding public interest in sharing the data – to ensure agencies share data in a responsible manner. The Bill’s objectives are to promote management and use of data as a public resource to support good government policy making and service delivery.
The legislative changes aim to break down the artificial walls that prevent the sharing of information. The changes are in line with recommendations from Royal Commissioner Margaret Nyland, and will extend the reach of data sharing by enabling the Government to work with the Commonwealth, other states or territories, local councils and the non-Government sector.
The Bill – including the proposed amendments highlighted in yellow – is available here(PDF, 275KB).
The proposals address concerns raised by the Child Protection Systems Royal Commission, which said: “A consistent theme in evidence before the Commission was that, in spite of the ISGs (Information Sharing Guidelines), many agencies fail to share information.”
In addition, the amendments seek to establish a new data analytics office to co-ordinate data storage, sharing and analysis.
How can your input influence the decision?
Your feedback will be taken into account in the finalisation of the amendments to be put to Parliament.
The State Government is committed to a fresh start for child protection in South Australia.
The Child Protection Systems Royal Commission report ‘The Life They Deserve’ was publicly released by the State Government on 8 August 2016. The report makes 260 recommendations to improve the policies, structure and culture of South Australia’s child protection system.
The implementation of some of the report’s recommendations, including establishing a new child protection department, is already underway.
There will be recommendations that the Government will implement immediately, while others will require considerable work and consultation with the community and sector.
A formal, detailed response to the Royal Commission will be presented before the end of this year, in line with the report’s final recommendation.
This consultation asked for community feedback on amendments to the Public Sector (Data Sharing) Bill 2016. The feedback received was used when drafting the Bill for Parliament.
The Bill has now passed Parliament, and received the Governor’s assent on 16 February 2017. You can find the Public Sector (Data Sharing) Act 2016 on the South Australian Legislation website.
Status
CLOSED
Sharing of Government Data is currently at this stage
